Spring Sports in Review

All too often people want to measure success by wins and losses. Despite a 4-35 season, Oberlin’s baseball team took major strides forward in regards to depth and talent for the future. This year’s baseball team included the largest recruiting class ever under Head Coach Eric Lahetta, who brought in 12 first-year players to add to the four returning players from last season. At any one point in this season at least six first-years were on the field for the Yeomen along with the lone senior, Chris Irish, junior Bob Montag, and sophomore Zachary Pretzer. 
The baseball team shattered school records left and right this past season. Pretzer finished the season with 42 hits, breaking the old mark of 39 hits in a season. Pretzer and first-year Troy Dewitt set the record for at bats in a season with 128, breaking last year’s mark of 122 which was set by Irish. Roughly two weeks into April Irish broke the school record for walks and ended the season with 33. 

Pretzer, DeWitt and Montag set the record for games played, starting in all 39 of the Yeomen’s contests, and Montag was hit by a pitch nine times in those games, also a new mark. First-year pitcher Rob Smith broke two records on the mound this year. He set the new mark for appearances in a season and for innings pitched, racking up close to 80 innings, breaking the old mark of 74 which was set last year.
The baseball team has added more depth for next year with 13 confirmed recruits coming in to compliment the 15 returning Yeomen.

With a fourth place finish in the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament and a second straight trip to the Midwest Regional Tournament, things couldn’t look brighter for a young OC women’s tennis team. The lone senior on this year’s team was third singles player Beth Krupski, who combined with first-year Becca Buurma to go 10-5 in doubles play. Buurma will join juniors Sarah Jesse and Lindsay Butler, sophomores Alaina Fotiu-Wojtowicz, Laura Koehn and Leah Corn, and first-year Nabilah Talib to lead the team into the 2002 season.
The Yeowomen jumped out to an impressive 6-0 start this season followed by a 3-0 beginning in conference play. They ended the season with a 4-2 record in the NCAC and a 13-11 record overall, an impressive feat considering the teams they played.
Over spring break, the team made their tour of the south taking on teams like Emory and the University of the South, (while they were also scheduled to play Flagler College). All three teams were expected to go to Nationals this year. They also took on some of the best teams in the region both in and out of conference. Teams like Denison and Kenyon, both NCAC opponents, and Hope College helped fill out Oberlin’s schedule making it arguably one of the hardest in Division III this season. With the successes of this season, and the return of five of the six starting players, the Yeowomen will most surely be conference contenders in 2002.

On the men’s side of the net, Oberlin’s men’s tennis team struggled through an injury-ridden season that saw two of their top singles players miss the last month of the season. At full strength, the men’s team jumped out to a 5-2 start early in the year before injuries hindered their play and forced the majority of the team to play out of position. The Yeomen still qualified for the NCAC tournament which they hosted. They finished seventh in the event and ended their season with a record of 7-19.

The team was anchored by seniors Ben Fox and Mike Shelton who played first and second singles instead of second and third singles most of the year. After first year Jamie Frankel was unable to play due to an injury, the two seniors were forced to move up, but combated the new challenge well. The team also included sophomores Ashvin Raj, Matt Issacs, Matt Fairbanks and Jay Criscione, and first-year Marion Bocek. The loss of two seniors from the six will hurt the team, but the experience gained from playing a position higher than normal in the lineup will help when the squad is at full strength next season.

After being seconds away from qualifying for nationals the year before, the women’s lacrosse team went through a rebuilding season this year. When last year’s seniors Lydia Reis and Maggie McFalls graduated, the Yeowomen’s two main sources of scoring were taken out of the lineup. This season became one of almosts for the lacrosse team. Six matches, including five losses, were decided by five goals or less. A goal here and there and a 3-10 season might suddenly have been an 8-5 season.
The Yeowomen made the conference tournament once again this season, landing a sixth seed with a record of 2-6 in the conference. The team, which included nine first-years and sophomores, was led by seniors MarySara Salvania, Kathryn Lanouette and Alex Grindle. Salvania and junior Laura Kent-Monning handled the bulk of the scoring while Lanouette controlled the defense. Sophomore Brianna Quinn, who split time between defense and mid-field this year, contributed with nine goals and three assists while leading the team defensively with 24 forced turnovers.
The women’s lacrosse team will see five seniors graduate this year, but will return 11 players, most of whom saw considerable time this season.
In their second season since being formed, the women’s softball team struggled through a season that saw them win only one game. 
The team was led by junior pitcher Dawn Sweeney, sophomore shortstop Maria Balducci, senior catcher/second basemen Sarah Breon and senior pitcher Rachel Barbie. With a host of returning players and growing interest in the young sport, it looks as though the softball program is headed in the right direction.

This past track season saw records fall for the women’s outdoor track team.
Junior Apryl Wynn set the NCAC record in triple jump with combined jumps of 38’4.25” and the school record in the long jump with a jump of 17’9.75” and senior Margaret Towey set the school record in Hammer Toss with a throw of 81’4”. Wynn’s triple jump qualified her for Nationals where she will join first-year teammate Shannon Houlihan to compete in the triple jump. Riding on the backs of Wynn and junior Nzinga Broussard, who scored a combined 53 points, the Yeowomen cruised to a third place finish in the NCAC Championships.
Sophomore Courtney Stackhouse also had solid year for OC, finishing second in the 100m dash at the championships with a time of 12.55 seconds. Her time was faster than last year when she won the event.
With a solid core of runners returning, the Yeowomen will be gunning for the conference championship next season.
The men’s outdoor track team struggled as a team this season, but on the individual level a number of players excelled. 
In his last race ever, senior David Bevacqua took the 5000m run at the NCAC Championships and finished fourth in the 3000m steeplechase. Bevacqua, along with senior sprinter Zach Rudisin, senior distance runner Daniel Schwartz and junior thrower Daniel Blackburn captained the Yeorunners who look to build on the experiences of this past season. 
The Yeomen will return 20 people next season including nine freshmen, and look to be strong in sprints and middle distance. OC will see virtually all of their distance runners graduate this season and that looks to be the only chink in the team’s armor.
The men’s lacrosse team struggled though a season which had its ups and downs. They opened the 2001 season with a trouncing of Marietta College 16-5 but struggled through the rest of the season, ending with a 2-10 record and a winless 0-5 in the NCAC.
The team struggled with inexperience most of the year and will look to bring back the majority of this year’s team to give them the experience they need to compete in the NCAC.
The team loses one senior, defenseman Tyler Smith, whose spot will be hard to fill. Oberlin returns their top two goal scorers for next season, sophomores Eric Vachon and Michael Wexler. Vachon finished ninth in the conference this season in points, averaging just over three points a game. That feat earned him honorable mention All-NCAC.
With experience and a strong first-year class, the Yeomen will be ready to battle with the big boys in the NCAC in 2001 .
-Compiled by Ian Haynes